Football League

After a disappointing 2014-15 campaign, the Clarets are targeting a return to England's top flight in the new season. Sean Dyche's side struggled throughout their brief spell in the Premier League and they were relegated to the Championship after just one season back in the top division. And, although Burnley have lost top goalscorer Danny Ings - who will join Liverpool this summer - the Clarets have already started to bring new players into the club, including Aston Villa full-back Matthew Lowton.

It has been yet another wonderful season in the Championship, with 2014/2015 seeing one of the closest races for the title, play-off spots and relegation places in recent years. The quality of football continues to increase year-by-year, with the ability for any team to beat anyone illustrates just how difficult it is to secure promotion to the Premier League. Top flight teams who have recently dropped down a division will vouch for how hard it has become to bounce straight back up, with former Premier League side Wigan and Blackpool suffering the ignominy of being relegated to League 1 after a season to forget on and off the pitch for both clubs.

Although there is still plenty to play for in the final game of the season, the Football League awards have already been handed out
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Yeovil Town have already been relegated with new boss Paul Sturrock now planning for life in League Two, but who will be joining the Glovers in the basement division in 2015-16?

This week’s fixtures have some more of those clichéd six-pointers for the sides still fighting for their League One lives. Next to bottom Colchester United entertain Scunthorpe United and third from bottom Crawley Town play the team just above them, Notts County.

By Steve Sands (AFS contributor)

Elsewhere, struggling Crewe Alexandra host Walsall, who look to be safe while Port Vale visit high-flying Preston North End on Friday night and Leyton Orient make the short but tricky trip to promotion chasing Milton Keynes Dons.

As we near the end of another fascinating Championship season, the best strikers in the league are battling it out to finish as the division's leading scorer. There has been no shortage of prolific front men in the Championship this year, and at this point of the season it could well be one of those strikers who fires their team to the play-offs or better still, the Premier League.

With it as close as it has ever been at the top of the table at this stage in the season, those teams vying for promotion will need their forwards firing on all cylinders between now and the beginning of May.

So who have been the Championship's sharpest shooters this season, and what might the future hold come for those players who have in fact caught the eye this year.
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As 2015 took its first tentative steps, it seemed that putting your mortgage on Hartlepool United to be relegated was one of the safest investments you could make for the New Year. Not only were Pool bottom of the league, they had just been dumped out of the FA Cup by non-league Blyth Spartans in front of a national TV audience.

by Steve Sands (AFS contributor)

But Hartlepool weren’t just rock bottom of League Two, they were cast adrift without a paddle, ten points behind third from bottom Carlisle United and seemingly doomed.

When you look at the table today it makes unbelievable reading, as the north-east side have lifted themselves out of the bottom two and can now look down on both Cheltenham Town and Tranmere Rovers with a degree of satisfaction
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I was reading about an electrician in his 30s who won £74,844 last Saturday which has inspired me to pick four matches for this weekend in which an away win looks likely.

The Scarborough-based punter (who wishes to remain anonymous) placed a £5 bet on six matches on Coral’s Winning Ways coupon on Saturday, waking up to a £74,844 win.

Well, I’m not ambitious enough to predict six games, so won’t be winning anyone enough to buy a holiday home in Spain – but maybe a set of new pans for the kitchen or an interesting water feature for the garden isn't out of the question!

Few people gave Wigan a cat in hell’s chance of coming away with three points from Championship leaders Derby whose unbeaten run had extended since August 19th when they lost away at Charlton Athletic.

But closer observers of the game and particularly those of us who have followed Wigan with Uwe Rösler at the helm weren’t at all surprised. This is exactly what Wigan do – losing games you’d expect them to win and vice-versa. Wigan have long enjoyed a reputation for trying to play free-flowing football and hat hasn’t changed one iota since Rösler took over as manager last December.

In last year’s Championship race, after a poor start, Wigan made relentless progress up the division under Rösler, eventually reaching the play-offs where only extra time at Loftus Road
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